A Day That Came Too Soon
by Man of Faith
Summary: What happens when that day comes to give her to another man? How does he feel about it? How does she? Find out in this heart warming story.


**AN: This is my first story ever. I always felt that this pairing hasn't been written enough and this idea just popped into my head. I hope you all will like it and of course, reviews always makes me smile. *hint hint* Please enjoy. **

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**No One's POV**

It was a day that many had came to expect sooner or later, but for one person, this day came too soon. As they stand side by side on the top of the stairs of the Sky Deck with the girl holding onto the man's arms, the faces on the two figures couldn't be any more different. The girl, no make that woman, had a look of excited nervousness, wondering what the future will hold for her as she takes this plunge into the next stage of her life. Yet, she was eager to take that plunge with the man she had truly fallen in love with. This was a day she had been looking forward to ever since she had agreed to "marry" him as part of a class assignment during their high school years on the S.S. Tipton and looking back, she never regretted that decision for a moment. The man however, had a look of apprehension and sadness. He wasn't sad that this girl, no this woman, was making a mistake, far from it even. He was very happy with her choice for a husband and knew that the man would treat this little princess the way she should be treated. However, that didn't mean that he wouldn't have some fatherly apprehension and sadness by giving her away today. Right before it was time to walk down the stairs, the woman look up at the man besides her.

"Are you ok? You don't look happy at all"

"I am happy, but sad at the same time. I never thought that this day would come. I guess I never prepared myself for it."

"But you raised me. You should have known you had to do this some day."

"Yes, but knowing and actually facing the reality of it are two different things."

"He's a good man, you know that. You've seen with your own eyes that he is."

"I have no doubt. I never did. Even when he was a hooligan and caused trouble on the ship, I never doubted he would eventually grow up to his potential. Just like I never doubted you"

"Thank you. That really means a lot coming from you. You know I've always looked up to you and even when I was causing trouble, you never once acted out of line."

"I acted as I should have."

"No you didn't! I wouldn't have blamed you if you given up on me a long time ago. It seems like almost everyone else did."

"Not everyone. Your future husband didn't. Your in-laws didn't. The ones who were your true friends never did. Sure they get confused at some of the things you say and do, but even those from the outside could tell that it didn't matter and that in the end, they all loved you."

As she shed a tear, she looked at him and said, "Those are probably the sweetest words I've ever heard from you. I know you love me, but there were times when I sensed I was nothing, but an annoyance to you."

"You were never an annoyance. I loved you ever since I first laid eyes on you."

"Even when I was being a spoiled brat and was able to have you gone within a second of your life?"

"Yes, even when you could have done all of that. I raised you and loved you as my own. London, I could never be more proud of you than I am now."

Now London was almost bawling and the man quickly pulled a pocket hanky out of his breast pocket and dried her tears.

"Thank you Moseby. You always know what to do. I'm glad it's you today giving me away."

"I'm honored you chose me London."

Even though Wilfred Tipton would be in attendance at London's wedding, she had made one request that her father had to reluctantly grant her. She wanted Marion Moseby to be the one to give her away. The reasoning was that Moseby was the one that had raised her and been more of a father figure than that of her generally absent birth father. After much debate, Wilfred relented on the basis that his daughter's assessment was accurate, even if he had to painfully admit it.

As the music sounded to signal the arrival of the bride, Moseby and London walked down the steps of the staircase and began their descent towards the altar. The Sky Deck was decorated beautifully with pink and white ribbons strung along the rails of the staircase and along the sides as well. The rows of white chairs were faced towards the stairs as family and friends were seated on both the groom's and bride's sides, fully packed for both sides. In front was a beautiful white altar that Arwin had made that was lined with beautiful white roses as the bridesmaids lined up on one side, the groomsmen lined up on the other, with the groom and the priest up front. London look at her soon to be husband, blonde hair curved into his neck, white tux with a pink bow (at the persistent of London, he agreed to add a little pink into his outfit), this was the man she was going to be with for the rest of her life. Yes, Zack Martin was the one she had fallen in love with.

Moseby's POV

He had seen the look in London's eyes and couldn't help, but smile. When they first dated, he was more than apprehensive towards London's new beau. In fact, he had down right refused to even allow them to date. If it wasn't for the constant pleading from London, the assurances from Cody and Bailey about Zack's real feelings, and finally Zack down right refusal to date London until Moseby had given his approval that finally melt away any reluctance that he once had.

As he stared ahead and looked at the groom, Moseby had to admit, letting London and Zack date was probably the best decision he had made as her guardian. Not only had Zack been motivated to become a one-woman man, but had taken his studies seriously and was determined to prove to Moseby, Wilfred, and quite possibly himself that he deserved to be London's boyfriend. Zack had gotten himself into Harvard (to the surprise of everyone except for London for some reason) and had decided to pursue a business degree along with an MBA. Now all his hard work had come into fruition as he has now become one of Tipton Industries high ranking officials and when Wilfred steps down, CEO of Tipton Industries alongside his soon to be bride. To say that Zack's family and close friends were proud was an understatement, but the one most proud besides Moseby himself had been Zack's twin, Cody.

Ah yes, Cody Martin, the brains of the Martin twins and best man of the groom. Unlike Zack, he knew from the beginning that Cody would grow up to be a value member of society. Cody had finally gotten out of his brother's shadows and started to be more confident and sure of his own place in the world. Seven Seas High did wonders for the less confident one of the twins and part of that can be attributed to the freedom Cody finally got from being his own person while on the ship. Sure Zack was still around, but Cody was able to make friends on his own, including catching the eye of a certain farm girl from Kansas. Although there were definitely some moments of awkwardness in getting used to being in the spotlight at times in society, Cody had matured through the ups and downs. After graduating from Yale, Cody had decided to depart from his childhood dreams of being the first doctor/lawyer in space and instead, follow the other passion in his life, cooking. With the help of London's connections, Cody had opened up an Italian Restaurant in Boston and put his culinary skills to the test. For the first year or so, Cody had slaved over his restaurant, attempting to make it one of the best in the world. His hard work paid off as the restaurant, named Paolo after his childhood mentor, is now known as the best in Italian dining in all of Boston. Cody Martin had done well and the farm girl from Kansas was always by his side.

Speaking of the farm girl, he looked towards the young woman standing behind Madeline, who was naturally the Maid of Honor for London, and smiled at the face of Bailey Pickett. (Oh excuse me, I mean Bailey Martin, force of habit). Bailey had finally been able to get away from the small town life of Kettlecorn, Kansas and began her journey of traveling the world and learning the different cultures and experiences it had to offer. Similar to Cody, Bailey needed an escape into the world and Seven Seas High provided it with its curriculum and diversity of friends, not to mention a certain smart twin from Boston. He had observed as Cody and Bailey's relationship went through the usual ups and downs along with the battles that were sure to spark in any relationship. The two learned from their mistakes and each other and grew into two mature adults. Graduating from Yale along with Cody, Bailey had pursued a career in helping the environment. Thanks to her country upbringing, Bailey love for nature had directed her towards the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). As she worked her way up through the bureaucracy, she was now the Director of the EPA and had started working with corporations to become greener and start investing in ways to help the environment while still being viable in the business world. Her first success was surprisingly Tipton Industries and as Tipton Industries plowed the way, the rest of the private sector followed. Along with all the success, she and Cody were happily married since graduation 3 years ago and had baby twins (Zoey and Caleb, Cody wanted to keep the Z and C next to the Martin names) just last year to show for it.

Moseby finally found his eyes looking upon Madeline, possibly London's first true friend. Like Cody, he never had a doubt that Maddie would be successful in her life. She always took life seriously, some times too seriously, but one couldn't blame her due to her family. Maddie had risen above her poor upbringing and went to Princeton for her undergraduate in college. Thanks to London, Maddie was able to afford her undergraduate and even Law School. Now, she was one of the most prominent criminal lawyers in all of Boston. She's even taken a few cases pro bono because as Maddie had said, "Just because you can't afford the best, doesn't mean you don't deserve the best". She truly had remember how it was for her growing up and like what London had done for her, she wanted to make sure she was able to do for those who weren't as fortunate as she had become. In terms of her love life, Maddie had fell in love with a classmate while in Law School and got married right after both she and her husband had passed the bar. Peter had been everything Maddie had looked for in a guy and all of her closest friends had made sure that Peter would treat Maddie the way she should be treated, especially Zack. In fact, Zack had taken upon himself to take on the big brother role (even though he was 3 years younger than Maddie) and told Peter that if he hurt her, Zack would hurt him. Now, they were happily married for the last 4 years with their little bundle of joy, London. (Named after her aunt who helped her mommy realize her dream of being successful and helping her parents find each other in the world)

As they reached the altar, he planted a kiss on London's cheek and handed her over to Zack. He looked at the young man in the eye and felt liquid coming from the corner of his eyes. As he pulled out his pocket hanky out to dry them, he gave Zack and nod and only said one thing to the man. "Take good care of her, she's all yours now."

"I will. I will love her like the princess she was born to be."

He turned around and went to sit next to his wife, Emma, on the bride's side. He looks at the face of Emma Tutweiller (well Emma Moseby anyways) and notice that she too had tears in her eyes. Like him, his wife had taken not only London, but also the entire wedding party as her own children. Watching them grow from teenagers to fine young men and women only made Emma cry even more. He put a comforting arm around her shoulders and whispered, "I know how you feel and we still have our own little one to watch over as well. I just hope I'll be more ready when it's time to walk her down the aisle."

"You're not helping you know!" Emma whispered back as she began to sob even more at the thought of her own baby girl growing up. All he could really do was whisper words to calm her down as the ceremony began.

London's POV

I was grateful that Moseby had said yes to walk me down the aisle and daddy for agreeing to the arrangement. Don't get me wrong, I love my daddy more than anything else in the world, but no one can compare to the love and devotion that Moseby had given all these years. Some would say that he did it because that was his job, but I know deep down he did it cause he grew to love me as his own daughter. I'm happy that Moseby now has his own daughter to spoil. (Boy do I feel sorry for the guy that's going to marry her)

As I stand on the altar with Zack, I looked around the Sky Deck and saw many faces that I recognized easily. My daddy of course was here sitting next to Moseby and Tutweiller. Surprisingly, he didn't have his security around him, which is a rarity, but I was glad because I rarely saw his face anymore. Next to him were Moseby and Tutweiller along with their little girl, Emily. Behind them were some of the Tipton employees I had came to know and love while being at the hotel and on the ship. There was Kirby, Esteban, Francesca, Senora Ramirez, Arwin, Skippy, Lance, Patrick, Connie, even Muriel showed up (probably just for the free food though). On Zack's side, there was Kurt and Carey, each holding one of the two twins. (They were simply adorable and even though their parents made Aunt London sign a contract not to spoil them, who says I ever followed the rules). Bailey's family was there as well since it was a part of their family that was getting married (Bailey and I grew closer as Zack and I started getting closer, to the point where she was as much of a sister to me as Maddie had always been) Marcus was there as well alongside his girlfriend, Max (I never did see that coming, who knew Zack's previous crush would be going out with mines). Sitting next to them were Bob, Barbara, Addison, and Tapeworm as well. Woody was of course standing behind Cody, as Zack's other groomsman. We wanted to keep the Wedding party small and only with our closest friends. I turned back towards the priest as he started to speak.

As we recited our vows, I can feel Zack's eyes looking at me, studying every part of my face. I felt a little embarrassed to say the least, but Zack always has a way of making me feel that way. After reciting our vows and having the priest announced us as husband and wife, Zack and I walked down the aisle together and headed to the Fiesta Deck where our reception would be held.

Moseby POV

As they went towards the Fiesta Deck where the reception was held, all I could do was smile and shed happy tears at the union that was forged. Sure, I cried when I had finally gotten married, cried at Cody and Bailey's wedding, even at Woody and Addison's, but never had I shed as much tears as I have just now. As I was about to get up to join the rest of the party on the Fiesta Deck, my little girl, Emily tugged at my suit.

"Daddy, why are you crying? Is it because sis is doing something wrong?" (Emily had gotten into the habit of calling London her sister and truthfully, London had acted like one to her in every way possible)

"No dear. Your big sister didn't do anything wrong. In fact, these are happy tears because I'm just so proud of her."

"Daddy, are you going to do this at my wedding?"

He looked at his 5 year old and picked her up. He looked into her eyes and said, "Of course I am because that day will be the day I give you away to another man who replace me as the most important man in your world."

"Daddy, you won't ever be replaced. You'll always be the most important man in my world, even when I get married."

He nods and says, "Even though that day won't be for a long while, it will still feel as a day that came too soon."


End file.
